You don’t need a cape to be a superhero

January 7, 2015

3 minute read

I had the privilege of leading a group of high school guys as one of their small group leaders. I spent two years trying to help them not make the same mistakes I made and hoping they understood what this following Jesus thing was about.

And talking about sex.

A lot.

In case you didn’t know, 17-year-old dudes really like taking about sex.

On the night of our last official group meeting, we spent time talking about prideful people vs humble people. As our guys were going back and forth with their opinions, I realized that in that moment, on that back porch, I wasn’t the one teaching this group of guys.

They were teaching me.

I’ve always dealt with pride issues. I’m self-conscious so, to make up for that, I overcompensate and become cocky and prideful. I admit it’s a stupid thing to do.

During the conversation, one of the guys said a humble person doesn’t need people to notice what they do. They do things because they know they’re supposed to do them.

That’s the exact opposite of who I am.

I crave the comments.

I crave people noticing.

I crave the attention.

I don’t crave these things in a negative way. The attention and accolades aren’t my sole intention when I do things. I do the best I can because I believe in doing things that way, but after doing my best, I crave the recognition.

Bob Goff has a book called Love Does. There’s a chapter in the book called “Lose the cape.” He references the movie The Incredibles and talks about the main character being told he doesn’t need a cape on his superhero costume because capes hold you back more often than they help you.

My recognition is my cape.

There’s a section in this chapter that hit me in the mouth. Goff writes:

Jesus modeled something different for us. Jesus was saying that instead of telling people about what we’re doing all the time, there’s a better way. … Maybe Jesus wants us to be secretly incredible instead. … Secretly incredible people keep what they do one of God’s best-kept secrets because the only one who needs to know, the gift of the universe, already knows.

Maybe Jesus wants us to be secretly incredible instead.

As I’ve thought through what being secretly incredible looks like, I’ve come to one conclusion:

People can view me in whatever way they view me.

Being secretly incredible is about the way others view me.

Being secretly incredible is about doing things only God sees and being okay with knowing he’s the only one who saw it.

What’s your cape? What is the one thing you’re longing for? Who do you want to notice you?

We all have the cape that keeps getting stuck in the door and holding us back. Each time we think we’re ready to move on, it gets stuck and pulls us back to where we came from.